Ski boots of this type usually comprise a rear piece articulated either on the shell base or on a rearward extension of the front piece, and a tightening assembly which assures the movement of the rear piece toward the front piece, and thus the closure of the upper on the lower portion of the leg of the skier. Conventionally, the tightening system consists of a flexible connection which, anchored on one of the lateral wings of the front piece, surrounds the rear portion of the rear piece and is tensioned by a bracing lever connected to the other lateral wing of the front piece. Examples of such devices are disclosed in French Patent No. 2,345,959 and U. S. Patent No. 4,083,127.
The bracing levers of these tightening assemblies engage a rack by their transverse pivoting axis, which engages in a notch of said rack, or which are mounted for pivoting movement on a hinge and are therefore themselves provided with a rack into which the flexible connection, such as the loop of a cable, is hooked. When the upper is opened, the bracing lever is pivoted in the direction of freeing up the cable, which disengages from its hooked position on the forward piece through the intermediary of the lever. Regardless of the kind of connection of the cable with the lever, the cable constituting the loop is then retained on the boot only by the anchoring means located on the wing opposite the one for hooking the bracing lever. As a result, the cable and/or the bracing lever is free to float in all directions, and is often in random positions which are frequently not adapted to the next closure attempt. Moreover, the cable is subject to being damaged during ill-timed and undesirable hooking, since it is then relatively projecting with respect to the boot.
In other boots known in the prior art, the upper is constituted by a single part subjected to a tightening assembly whose flexible connection, such as lacing, is maintained on the rear part of the upper through the intermediary of guide means constituted by guide slots and keepers provided thereon. Examples can be found in Swiss Patent No. 370,335 and French Patent No. 624,336. These boots do not present the problem of boots having an articulated rear part, but teach flexibly connected guide means fixed in position on the upper. These means always retain the flexible connection in good position for tightening the upper, but have certain drawbacks. In French Patent No. 624,336, the means are irremovable, so that the flexible connection cannot be easily replaced in case of wear, and in Swiss Patent No. 370,335, the guide means are relatively in relief with respect to the wall of the upper and are hence subject to rapid deterioration.